Hourglass (Hardcover)
Staff Reviews
In this short novel written as a long poem, Keiran Goddard explores the three parts of a relationship as told by a man in love with a woman. There is before, during, and after, and each part is more heartbreaking than the last. The writing is beautiful yet easy to read and is relatable to anyone who has ever felt heartbreak. Though filled with sorrow and heartache, reading this book felt very hopeful. I loved reading about the perspective a man has on his relationship.
-Lark
— From Jousting July Staff PicksFebruary 2023 Indie Next List
“Hourglass is a psalm for anyone who’s ever loved and lost and loved again. Messy, darkly funny, and gut-wrenching, this poem-meets-novella will remind you just how fragile a heart can be. I will come back to it time and time again.”
— Holly Voorsanger, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
Description
A FEBRUARY 2023 INDIE NEXT PICK
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE
A short, lyrical debut novel about love, loss, work, time, and the unquenchable desire for connection with others--for fans of Jenny Offill, Mieko Kawakami, David Szalay and Sheila Heti
The second time you came, we went from bar to bar to bar. It made the city feel smaller. Like a map we were folding to the size of a stamp. We were good at that. We could have fit an entire universe inside a matchbox.
Exquisitely crafted, richly imagined, and as funny as it is moving, Hourglass is an unusual and uniquely told love story. Turning time upside down, it combs the wreckage of personal heartbreak for something universal and asks what it means to lose what you love.
"This book is such a sneaky head f*ck--an epic poem in an ancient style about the brutalities of modern love, a masculine interrogation of feminine heartbreak, a really beautiful way to spend an evening"--Lena Dunham
